Part One: Five
Beyond the massive drawbridge rose the royal palace with its pointed spires. Past the palace adorned with lavish stonework, in the rearmost corner one reached after making their way through, lay the maids' quarters.
"Hey, Millicent!"
Someone shook her shoulder as she wandered through a half-dreaming daze.
"Wake up!"
In the end, thanks to the bothersome pestering, Millicent opened her eyes. It seemed she was about to begin the day that marked exactly a fortnight since she had been hired as a palace maid.
"...Isn't it still night?"
But the sky visible beyond the window was a deep violet, and the moon and stars, studded into place, were twinkling.
"The sun is merely rising late, that's all. It's dawn."
"Then I'll sleep more until the sun properly rises."
The one who had woken her was an old maid named Tracy, and honestly, she was an easy mark. So Millicent hugged her blanket again and rolled herself up.
"Get up! You have to go to the city gate and receive meat from the hunter."
Tracy snatched the blanket away entirely.
"If we receive it during the day, does the meat turn into grass or something?"
Rubbing her eyes sluggishly, Millicent grumbled.
"You have to receive what was freshly caught at dawn for it to be fresh!"
Tracy clicked her tongue.
"It's meat for the banquet. It's going to be an incredible party celebrating His Majesty the King's victory."
The king, who had been away at war for some time, had returned a few days ago with news of victory. It was good that he had returned victorious, but that damn victory celebration was the problem. It was being held on such a grand scale that the palace maids preparing the banquet were being run ragged day and night.
"Just go to the city gate."
Without further ado, Tracy held out a small pouch of gold coins.
"Pay with this. Make sure to get a signature on the receipt. And don't forget to take the cart!"
Still half-asleep, Millicent processed only the words she could immediately understand and moved about sluggishly. First, she took off her nightgown and nightcap and washed her face with cold water. Then she put on a linen shirt and an ashen-brown skirt that looked reasonably clean.
"...I have to wear the most important hat."
The white cap, starched stiff after being boiled with potato peels, was waiting quietly for its owner. Millicent put it on as if performing a sacred ritual and tied the strap beneath her chin. She looked at her face in the mirror. The white cap, shaped like a bonnet worn by children, had fabric on both sides of the face hanging down long to her shoulders. It completely covered her tousled black hair, her large bright blue eyes, and even her expressionless face.
"It's perfect again today, Mr. Mallory."
Tying the strap beneath her chin tightly once more, Millicent muttered. She left the maids' quarters, facing the dawn wind just as the sun was barely trying to rise.
But she realized she didn't really know exactly where the city gate was. She was too lazy to go back and ask, and she didn't want to play the role of a maid that enthusiastically anyway. She was starting to get confused herself as to whether she was an assassin or a maid. In the end, Millicent decided to just wander around and look for someone who looked like a hunter. It was a pathetic plan, yet things worked out surprisingly well.
In the distance, she saw a man. He had a quiver on his shoulder, and a hat and bow in his hands. Beside him stood a large, handsome black horse, docilely. And at his feet lay two deer that looked freshly caught. He was unmistakably a hunter.
"Good morning, hunter sir."
It was a day nowhere near a good morning, but Millicent greeted him anyway.
"...What?"
But rather than returning the greeting, the man rudely furrowed his brow. Because of that, Millicent stared intently at his face, in which she had not had the slightest interest until then.
He was an extremely handsome man.
It was surprising. She had never felt that a man was handsome before. But the man before her eyes was truly handsome. His forehead was straight beneath his sleekly swept-back jet-black hair. Slightly blue-tinged gray eyes, a straight nose bridge, and plump lips were distinctly set upon his sun-touched face. His physique was impressive, too. First of all, he was as tall as a palace door. And the broad shoulders draped with a cloak and the slender waist imaginable beneath the doublet formed a perfect inverted triangle. The line stretching sleekly from his thighs down to his calves covered in riding boots was also first-rate. Moreover, it was all balanced with muscle.
And he had a strangely familiar face.
"I said good morning."
Even so, Millicent quickly lost interest. Drooling over the hard black bread she would eat for breakfast was better than the man.
"It's not like I spoke to you in some foreign language."
The man's furrowed face relaxed.
"I see. I've been rude. Good morning, beautiful young lady."
Belatedly, he observed etiquette. He pulled the hat he was holding to his chest and bowed politely. Even with just a sidelong glance at her clothes, he must have known Millicent was not of the lady class. Such fine treatment was not something one could receive every day.
"Seems like your morning hasn't been going well either?"
Simple-minded Millicent felt better.
"It was dark until now, but only after meeting you does the sun seem to be rising, Miss."
Despite being a hunter, he spoke just like a knight frequenting the court. He skillfully used a typical courtly tone, spouting sweet, honey-dipped compliments toward ladies. Looking closely, the clothes on his body were quite luxurious, too. The light brown doublet he wore was suede leather, and the cape on his shoulder was adorned with soft mink fur.
"Hunters seem to earn good money these days?" Millicent exclaimed, pointing at his clothes.
"Ah, something like that," the man answered, as if amused.
"I'm jealous. Maybe I should quit being a maid and go hunting instead."
"A maid of the royal palace?" he asked meaningfully. "It's a face I've never seen before."
"Originally, another maid was supposed to come get the goods, right? I haven't been working at the palace long," Millicent replied nonchalantly. "Though it feels like I've already worked here for about twenty years."
"Why is that?"
"I was polishing silverware until late last night, and even polished it in my dreams. Today I have to polish again," Millicent said. "We're busy preparing the banquet to celebrate His Majesty the King's victory."
"I suppose so."
Suddenly, the man smiled an inscrutable smile.
"Miss maid, have you never seen the King?"
"I haven't." Millicent shrugged.
"Really?" the man softly asked again. "Think carefully. You might have seen him somewhere."
It was something not even worth thinking about.
"He was busy fighting outside all this time, I heard," Millicent said, shaking her head. "And I'm at best a maid; how would I meet His Majesty the King?"
"What's wrong with being a maid?"
Wondering if he was joking, she glanced at him, but the man's face was serious.
"What's wrong? A maid is a being less valued than the marble sculptures or paintings in the palace. At least those are expensive." As far as Millicent knew, that was the case. "His Majesty probably enjoys the pheasant and bread laid upon the banquet table. But he won't spare a glance at the maid flipping the grill so the meat cooks evenly, or cutting the bread."
"I wonder," the man asserted in an odd tone. "Could he really pass by such an interesting young lady without seeing her?"
For a moment, an unfamiliar emotion flickered in his eyes. She didn't know what it was, but it was unpleasant and uncomfortable. She felt like a weak deer being chased by that gaze. Millicent had always thought of herself as the hunter, never once as the prey. She didn't like it. Then that meant she had made enough small talk to be polite.
"I'm here to fetch the goods," Millicent said, clumsily changing the subject. "I'll take a look at the deer."
She crouched down and examined the dead beasts laid at the hunter's feet.
"These are fresh, right?"
Millicent, who only knew how to eat meat and had no clue how to judge it, asked. Since she had been told to make sure they were fresh, she was at least going through the motions.
"Well, they were just brought in from the forest."
By the looks of it, the other party also only knew how to show them and seemed to have no clue how to do business.
"To be any fresher, I'd have to bring the deer here alive."
Millicent nodded roughly. It wasn't meat going into her own mouth anyway, and it certainly wasn't money coming out of her own pocket.
"Then I suppose that must be it."
She held out the pouch of gold coins she had received from the old maid Tracy earlier. The hunter didn't readily accept it and hesitated for a moment.
"Um, well, I think this might cause you trouble, miss..."
"What are you doing? I'm hungry and want to go quickly."
How strange that he didn't want to take the money when she was offering it. She suddenly grabbed his hand.
"Your hand..."
As she was pressing the purse into his hand, Millicent paused. It was a very masculine hand. It was big and long. Tendons bulged distinctly on the back of his hand. His palm was somewhat rough, as if proving that it had gripped knives and spears.
"Why my hand?"
"It feels familiar somehow. Like I've held it somewhere before...?" Millicent tilted her head.
"Where have you held my hand, miss?" the man asked, as if amused. "Well, think carefully. When was it?"
Their eyes met. His pupils were gray, yet a blue hue flickered faintly in them.
"No, I must be talking nonsense because I haven't eaten." Millicent drew a simple conclusion from the absurd feeling. "I usually eat bread as soon as I wake up. But today Tracy nagged me so much that I went looking for the hunter first. A person needs to eat for their head to work, really..."
She complained sullenly, then felt a lingering unease in a corner of her chest again.
"Come to think of it, what else did Tracy tell me to fetch?"
Millicent tilted her head, but it didn't come to mind.
"Ah, I don't know."
But she quickly gave up on memories that wouldn't surface.
"Then shall I pack up the deer?"
"Wait, they look heavy. I can..."
"Oh, move aside. You're in the way."
They weren't extremely heavy, but neither were they light enough to carry on her shoulders. Yet, making a mockery of the hunter's worries, Millicent vigorously loaded the deer onto the cart one by one.
"Done."
Millicent casually slapped away the hand the man had held out, only to withdraw awkwardly.
"...You truly are an unusual young lady."
The hunter snickered. It was a smile that seemed as if the very fact that God had created such a creature was novel to him.
"Would it be alright to ask your name?"
Eventually, he asked.